Understoodit Classroom App: Press Red Button If You're Confused

It’s early in the morning, and you’re sitting in class. You pulled an all-nighter yesterday, and the evening before you may or may not have been out partying. You’re not at peak performance, to say the least. And then the prof enters the room, and it’s all over. Confusion time.

While some university confusion could be eliminated through diligent study, fewer hangovers, and far fewer all night study sessions, some of it could also be reduced if the profs actually knew that their students were confused. However, if you’re like me, you may not really want to put up your hand in a room of 300 people and ask a question.

In fact, running around campus naked might feel preferable to exposing your ignorance in front of all of your peers. That’s where the Understoodit app could come in handy. Toronto’s Liam Kaufman has four degrees, so he’s likely had his share of confusing lectures. That’s why he created an app that will help students communicate confusion or understanding to their professors, simply by pressing a button. Things are going well? Press the green button. What language is the prof speaking, anyway? Press the red button for confused.

Is the app a substitute for real person-to-person communication? Of course not, and that can still happen. But as classes get bigger, the likelihood of someone putting up their hand and asking the prof to explain something again gets pretty miniscule. Think of the app as an instant survey of the classroom. Instead of asking confused students to ask questions that may or may not hit the mark for most of the class, with this tool, the professor will get a general feel for the room’s level of understanding or confusion. A room full of green means go, and room full of red means stop and regroup. It will be intriguing to see how this works in practice. If a teacher sees a classroom light up in red, how will that change the lesson?

Next up: an Understoodit app for everyday life? I’d like one of those, please.